Apparatus and method for balancing aircraft with robotic arms

A drone comprising:

• a frame, at least one battery pack, at least one main rotor assembly supported by the frame and electrically coupled to said at least one battery pack, a controller attached to the frame and electrically coupled to said at least one main rotor assembly and said at least one battery pack, a radio receiver attached to the frame and coupled to the controller, at least one gyroscope attached to the frame and coupled to the controller, at least one accelerometer attached to the frame and coupled to the controller, a GPS receiver attached to the frame and coupled to the controller, a landing gear, and a robotic arm operatively connected to the frame;
• wherein the robotic arm comprises an effector, a plurality of links connected by at least one joint and ending in the effector and a balancing rotor assembly located substantially above the effector and configured to provide lift compensating for weight of payload carried by the effector.

A method of balancing a drone comprising a body, a robotic arm extending from the body and having a plurality of links connected by at least one joint and ending in an effector, and a balancing rotor assembly attached to the robotic arm above the effector, the method comprising the steps of:

• monitoring attitude of the body of the drone;
• and
• changing power supplied to the balancing rotor assembly in response to shifting of the attitude to change the lift produced by the balancing rotor assembly and thereby balance the drone by increasing the power supplied to the balancing rotor assembly in response to pickup of a payload by the effector, and reducing the power supplied to the balancing rotor assembly in response to releasing or lowering onto a surface the payload carried by the effector.

A method of balancing a payload carried by a robotic arm having a plurality of links connected by at least one joint and ending in an effector and a balancing rotor assembly attached to the robotic arm substantially above the effector, wherein the robotic arm is attached to a drone, the method comprising the steps of:

• monitoring an angle of pitch of the drone;
• changing a current supplied to the balancing rotor assembly in response to changing of the angle of pitch to change the lift to maintain a desired angle of pitch.